To be operated on the 2.4 km E39 Anda-Lote route on the west coast of Norway from January 2018, each all-electric ferry will have a cargo capacity of 120 cars, 12 trailers and 349 passengers.

Operation on the 2.4 km route will start in January 2018.

Siemens will install a complete integrated electric power and automation solution in each vessel.

The electric propulsion solution BlueDrive PlusC includes lithium-ion batteries as energy storage and thruster and remote control for the propellers, an energy management system and an integrated alarm and monitoring system. The ship's energy storage system is charged at each side of the crossing, with a shore connection to the local grid, and is monitored from the ferries based on WiFi communication.

The tender for the ferry route between Anda and Lote is the first tender for ferry services in Norway to make ferries with zero and low emissions a requirement. This would have allowed for partly hybrid operation, using biodiesel or biogas, on one of the ferries,

Fjord1 ended up choosing two electric battery powered ferries, giving a better overall return both financially and for the environment.

"Once the infrastructure is in place on land, it makes sense to make the most of the investments with two ferries. Therefore we chose to go for the most environmentally-friendly option," says Arild Austrheim, Maritime Technical Director at Fjord1,

"With this contract, we have proven our leading position in environmentally-friendly propulsion solution," says Juergen Brandes, CEO of the Process Industries and Drives Division at Siemens. "We have shown that the technology is robust, sustainable and reduces costs."